


Remember When

by SpicedGold



Series: Itachi/Shisui One-Shot Collection [6]
Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M, Party in Danzo's office, Shisui has no foresight, Then Danzo ruined it, This started off really funny, accidental arson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 09:41:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15816333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpicedGold/pseuds/SpicedGold
Summary: Shisui doesn't always think things through, and sometimes forgets that his cousin can be a bit over-reactive.Confetti, it turns out, is extremely flammable.





	Remember When

**Author's Note:**

> This is why I shouldn't have days off

Confetti, it turned out, was extremely flammable.

“What the fuck did you do?” Kakashi asked softly, watching the entirety of the Anbu locker room go up in flames.

Shisui, awkwardly, scratched his head. “I guess . . . I shouldn’t have startled him . . .?”

Genma stood beside them, chewing thoughtfully on his senbon. “Two options here. One, we put the fire out. One water jutsu should do the trick. Or,” he looked the flames up and down, “We get some marshmallows.”

“Funnily enough,” Kakashi said dryly, “I don’t commonly carry marshmallows on my person.”

“Pity,” Genma rolled the senbon from one side of his mouth to the other. “We can go and get some.”

“Eh,” Kakashi shrugged. “What the hell. Why not?”

 

Shisui had not been aware that party poppers made such a loud noise. Nor had he had the foresight to test one out. The delight in finding them (Clearly, he should clear out his aunt’s attic more often) had overshadowed all forms of common sense, and he had skipped delightedly to the Anbu headquarters in search of his usual reluctant partner in crime.

Said partner in crime was, and Shisui knew this, a tad highly strung and had Shisui taken more than a moment to think, he would have realised the flaw in setting off an explosion, small as it may be, behind Itachi’s head. But everyone has lapses in judgement, and everyone makes mistakes, and certain flamboyant Uchihas don’t think things through and, blissfully ignoring possible consequences, pranced up behind his cousin and, well.

Confetti was flammable.

And a startled Itachi was incredibly fast, and had whipped around and flashed through the Katon seals before the ‘bang’ had even stopped ringing in Shisui’s ears.

Which is what led to the current scene, of Shisui studying the rising flames with pursed lips and a tilted head. Of course, Kakashi had been there instantly, to observe, with his usual indifference, as the room slowly succumbed to Itachi’s fireball. And Genma had been nearby, alerted by the commotion, and adding his own silent observation.

“Bit skittish, isn’t he?” Kakashi remarked, as though discussing a feral cat and not the vaunted Uchiha prodigy.

“He’s quick, though,” Genma nodded. “Not every day you see someone light a room on fire in less time than it takes to blink.”

“I may have made an ‘oops’,” Shisui stated.

“Really?” Kakashi raised an eyebrow. “That’s your conclusion?”

“Yeah,” Shisui let out a breath through pursed lips. “Oops.”

They watched the flames for a few minutes. It was quite mesmerizing, and very soothing.

“What _the hell_ is going on here?” Danzo’s voice could be heard, resounding through the halls. He strode towards the fire as though to put it out through sheer intimidation. “Why is this room on fire? And why are you all standing around and not _doing something about it?”_

These were very legitimate questions that Shisui hoped someone else would answer.

Genma came to the rescue. “It’s all under control. It can’t spread any further than it is, and there isn’t anything important still in the room. There was plenty of time to evac the people and the vital equipment.”

Danzo looked thoroughly unimpressed with this explanation. “That doesn’t answer why it’s still burning! Which of you set this building on fire and chose not to do anything about it?”

“We didn’t start the fire,” Kakashi began.

“I may have played a small role,” Shisui admitted. “But it was Itachi’s fault.”

“And where, exactly,” Danzo looked strained - Perhaps if they stalled enough he would pop an aneurysm. That would solve nearly all Shisui’s problems - “Is Itachi?”

That was also a good question – really, Shisui mused, it was no wonder Danzo was on the council, what with his astute insight and quick grasp of situations. “I think he’s . . . not here . . .?”

“He’s outside,” Anko chimed in.

All four other shinobi present whipped their heads towards her. Shisui hadn’t even heard her arrive.

“He’s sitting in the tree,” she waved vaguely towards a window that did not have flames currently spewing out of it. She peered at them, looking expectant. “I heard someone say marshmallows.”

“We don’t actually have any,” Genma confessed. “We were just thinking about them.”

“Put this goddamn fire out!” Danzo roared over them. “Why are you all just gawking at it?”

“Not every day you see something flaming like this,” Genma said matter-of-factly.

“Speak for yourself,” Anko shrugged, “I see Shisui almost daily.”

Shisui preened, although Kakashi wasn’t sure why, and Danzo’s face turned even redder.

“Yare, yare, I got it,” Kakashi said soothingly, with his usual undertone of condescension. He flicked nonchalantly through a few seals, and expertly doused the room in water. The flames spat and fizzled, then the entire hallway was coated in a veil of steam.

“Good for the pores,” Anko nodded. “We should do this more often.”

“Shisui,” Danzo said sharply.

“Yup?” Momentarily distracted by the sound of hissing steam, Shisui forwent all his usual formality. Oh well, if Danzo didn’t like ‘yup’ as an acknowledgement, Shisui would probably hear all about it soon.

“Find Itachi and report to my office immediately.”

“Okie doke,” he beamed, hair frizzing enthusiastically in the sudden humidity. He flickered away.

Kakashi looked thoughtful. “Anyone wanna go out for marshmallows?”

 

“ _What were you thinking?_ ” Danzo bellowed.

Shisui raised an eyebrow, but Itachi remained absolutely still, expression locked and stoic.

“I was thinking . . . party?” Shisui ventured, scratching his hair, which was still standing on end. “Like, have you ever used a party popper?” Shisui was relatively certain he knew that answer to that. Danzo didn’t look like he had ever experienced fun in his life, and certainly not fun on the level of explosions behind your cousin’s head and spontaneous arson. “They shoot glitter and confetti everywhere. And streamers.”

Streamers were also highly flammable. Shisui wondered why there wasn’t a warning on the party popper box.

“What were _you_ thinking?” Danzo turned his attention to Itachi.

Itachi lifted his chin ever so slightly. “I was attacked. I defended myself.”

“I didn’t attack you,” Shisui sounded affronted. “I said ‘Wanna see something cool’?” He gestured wildly with one hand. “ _How_ is that an attack?”

“And then you set off an explosion behind my head,” Itachi added quietly, looking very much like he would rather be anywhere else.

“And _fire_ was your first instinct?” Danzo demanded. “In a building? _Fire_?”

“No one got hurt,” Shisui shrugged. “Sure, the locker room needs a makeover, but it was due for one anyway. And we saved the equipment.”

Pointing out all the good things did not make Danzo any less enraged. He glared daggers at both boys, and Shisui could feel Itachi shooting him silent side glares as well. He might have withered under both gazes were he not as strong as he was.

“You are elite shinobi,” Danzo began sternly, turning the full force of his glare to Shisui alone – as though he was the only one at fault, come on, Itachi had been the one to really set things in motion – “And as such should never lose control like this. This lapse in judgement is not to be repeated, _ever_. Understand?”

Shisui pasted his most humble expression on his face. “Of course. We’ll use the others outside.”

Itachi twitched, taking in a deep, grounding breath before asking, his word almost a sigh, “Others?”

“There were a lot in the box,” Shisui shrugged. “You know, for parties.”

Danzo rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Give me the others.”

He held out an expectant hand.

Shisui blinked. “Wait, what?”

“Give me the others.”

“Are you . . . confiscating my party poppers?” Shisui asked incredulously. “Like I’m a child?”

“Yes.”

Itachi looked faintly smug. Oh, Shisui was going to explode something else behind his head, just wait.

Grumbling, Shisui dug into his weapons’ pouch and pulled out a handful of tiny, innocuous looking little plastic shapes. Itachi tensed a fraction as Shisui held them out, and his reaction did not go unnoticed by Shisui.

Danzo snatched the objects out of Shisui’s hand, shoving them into a desk drawer, and concluding the action with another pointed glare at both boys. “Now get out of my office, and don’t cause any more trouble, or you’ll both be fired!”

It was the wrong choice of word, because Shisui snorted loudly and started giggling helplessly, trying to muffle the sound, and being incredibly unsuccessful at it. Itachi sent him a pained look.

Seeing as Shisui was not going to add anything helpful, Itachi bowed low. “Thank you Danzo-sama. It won’t happen again.”

He turned on his heel, grabbing Shisui’s sleeve at the same time, and dragging him from the office.

 

The moment the door closed, Shisui burst out into laughter. “ _Fired_! I thought he wanted to avoid any more of that?”

Itachi did not feel the need to add to the conversation. He continued grimly down the hallway, not relinquishing his hold on Shisui’s shirt. The spluttering and giggling did not do much for his mood.

“Now get out of my office, and don’t cause any more trouble,” Shisui mocked in a high-pitched, hideously inaccurate impersonation. “Silly little Uchihas always starting fires.”

“You could have gotten both of us suspended,” Itachi pointed out, continuing out the building. “You are lucky all we got was a warning.”

“Oh, lighten up.”

Itachi’s jaw tensed.

“That was the most fun we’ve had in ages.” Shisui slung an arm over Itachi’s shoulders, matching his strides easily. “Remember _fun_ , Itachi? You used to be fun.”

“I was never fun,” Itachi grumbled.

“Yeah, you were.” He tugged at Itachi’s hair. “You were fun when we went to get dango last week, and you were fun when you let me kiss you after training when you were all out of breath and warm.”

Itachi looked away with a disdainful sniff.

“You were pretty fun in the shower, too, even if you did nearly give me a concussion.”

“You said you had me,” Itachi retorted.

“Hey,” Shisui nudged him, before Itachi could get side-tracked into a rant about friction and physics, as he was wont to doing. “Wanna get marshmallows before we go home?”

 

“You’re home early,” Sasuke sounded delighted, running through the garden to wrap his arms around his brother. “Didn’t you have work?”

“Shisui very kindly got us some time off,” Itachi said, voice dripping sarcasm that Sasuke was innocently oblivious to.

“That’s nice,” Sasuke beamed. “We can hang out, right?”

“Yes, Sasuke,” Itachi smiled gently at him.

“Wanna see something cool?” Shisui asked, ignoring the violent flinch his words elicited from Itachi.

Sasuke nodded eagerly. “Yeah!”

“Watch,” Shisui procured yet another party popper from somewhere on his person.

“I thought you gave them all to Danzo,” Itachi sounded accusing.

“You didn’t think I’d give them all up, did you?” Shisui winked at him. “Come on, Itachi, don’t you know me better than that?”

Itachi sighed.

Sasuke inspected the object on Shisui’s palm. “So, like, what is it? Is it some cool technique you’re going to teach me?”

“Yes. It’s called ‘Your brother is a skittish fool’,” Shisui took hold of the string, aimed the popper at the sky and, without further warning, yanked it hard.

The technique, Sasuke observed, was well named.

Itachi launched out of the near vicinity at the sound of the ‘bang,’ and Sasuke caught the tail end of a rare curse word as he exited the area.

“Itachi, you drama queen, come back,” Shisui shouted. “Don’t be a coward, it’s just a pop!”

“This is awesome!” Sasuke squealed, jumping up with arms stretched over his head to swat at the gently fluttering pieces of paper. “It’s like it’s snowing glitter!”

“I have another one,” Shisui chirped, whipping it out of nowhere and exploding it merrily.

“ _Shisui_!” Itachi yelped.

“Yay!” Sasuke jumped happily on the spot. He spun around, head tipped back, until his spinning brought him into contact with a rigid body. Sasuke let out a quiet ‘oomph’, before stepping back. “Oh, hi Dad.”

Little glittery bits of paper were settling in Fugaku’s hair and drifting past his deadpan expression. “What is going on?” he asked flatly.

Shisui cocked his head to the side, the motion relocating a streamer from atop his head to his shoulder. “I found these party poppers.”

“We’re having fun,” Sasuke said.

Fugaku didn’t even twitch.

No wonder Itachi didn’t know how to have fun, Shisui pondered. He spent too much time around his father and Danzo. “It’s perfectly safe.”

“Is it?” Fugaku’s frown deepened a fraction. “Then why did I hear the Anbu building was set on fire?”

Shisui faltered. “That could have been anyone.”

“But it wasn’t anyone, was it?” Fugaku asked, his tone not changing. “It was you.”

“It was Itachi,” Shisui shifted the blame shamelessly. “I didn’t burn anything.”

Sasuke turned wide, horrified eyes to the general direction his brother had vanished into, “Nii-san, you set the Anbu on fire?”

“I didn’t set the Anbu on fire,” Itachi corrected grumpily, appearing behind Sasuke from god knows where. “No one was hurt, and Shisui started it.”

“You used to be nice,” Shisui stuck his tongue out. “Why am I getting blamed for everything these days?”

Fugaku drew in a deep breath, gathering his patience. He dropped his chin down slightly, and glared violently at the confetti that floated down off the top of his head. “Shisui . . .”

“Remember, you love me like I’m your son,” Shisui prompted.

“Not right now, I don’t.”

Shisui’s face fell. “Okay, well . . . you still love me . . .”

“I love you,” Sasuke said solemnly.

Shisui sent a hopeful look to Itachi, who stared back at him with a sour, unreadable expression. He sighed, “Fine. I’ll throw the others away.”

“Good,” Fugaku said stiffly, walking away and leaving a trail of glitter. The eyes of all three boys followed it as it floated serenely to the ground.

“Your dad needs to lighten up, too,” Shisui remarked.

Itachi said nothing, but Sasuke nodded, and added gravely, “Like a fire.”

 

Meanwhile; in Danzo’s office.

“Found ‘em!” Genma said triumphantly. “Kakashi, let’s get a fire going. Anko, do you have the marshmallows?”

“Party in Danzo’s office!”

.

.

.

.

.

.

It is mere months later that Shisui brings the incident up again, although the circumstances are less than favourable, and he is running out of time, but Itachi needs him to keep talking, and it’s all he can think about.

“Hey,” Shisui says, voice slightly strained. It’s meant to comfort, it’s meant to ease the tension that he _feels_ in Itachi’s shoulder but can no longer see. Still, it’s there, it’s present, and Shisui wants to take some of it away. Because he’s about to leave enough of a burden on Itachi, so maybe, he will feel better about it if he is able to help, just a fraction.

He digs his thumb a bit more firmly into Itachi’s shoulder, to ground him, to keep his attention here, on Shisui, and not wandering to solutions and wants and hopes and never-to-be’s. “Remember when we set the Anbu locker room on fire?”

“It was your fault,” Itachi mutters. Shisui can hear the tears in his voice, and he is grateful he doesn’t have to see whatever expression sits on the young prodigy’s face.

The wind whipping around them is cold, and it stings the blood on Shisui’s cheeks. He forces a wobbly smile. “Yeah. But you were so good. So fast, and so strong. You’re a wildfire, Itachi, and you can burn through anything. Nothing can stop you, okay? Understand?”

Itachi shudders slightly in Shisui’s grip.

“Itachi,” he breathes, trying to focus through a fog of pain in his head. “Nothing can stop a fire if it doesn’t want to be stopped. Anything you need to do, anything you _have to do_ – you’ll be able to. I know you can. That’s why I know I can let you do this.”

“You can stop a fire,” Itachi mumbles, a trace of childishness breaking through his tone, because he wants Shisui to stay, and they are too close to the cliff and its making him nervous.

Shisui can feel every beat of his racing heart. “I don’t want to stop you. I want you to burn, I want you to burn wild and reset everything in your path. I’m not going to be the one to put you out, I’m going to be the fuel to start your flames.”

He is feeling dizzy now, from the low chakra levels and the loss of blood. Itachi is no longer shaking as violently. He gives Itachi’s shoulder one final squeeze, before backing up. He knows where he is, he knows how far before the edge.

“You can do this,” he assures once more. “Protect the Leaf, protect the Uchiha name. There’s no one in the world I would trust more with this than you. _Itachi_ ,” he says softly.

He can’t see Itachi’s response, but he knows what it will be. A lifted head, a solemn expression, a willingness to do anything that is asked of him.

Shisui smiles, because he knows Itachi will manage. He’ll step up, brave and aflame and ready for anything. He feels the edge of the cliff at his heel, and takes in a deep breath. It’s cool and fresh; the air is crisp and clean. He begins to fall. “Start a fire.”


End file.
